ECG installs smart prepaid meters in the Volta Region
The Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG) has since the beginning of this year installed 5,000 smart prepaid meters in the Ho and Hohoe districts of the Volta Region.
The smart prepaid meters are compliant with the new Meter Management System (MMS) of the ECG, integrating all smart meters onto a common platform to enable customers to purchase prepaid credit from any part of the country and allows the company to monitor the meters remotely.
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According to the Volta Regional Communications Officer of ECG, Mr. Benjamin Antwi, the installation forms part of ECG’s plans to provide quality services to customers in the region.
“As a company, we want to make the Volta Region, a hub of excellent customer service and we believe providing convenience for our customers will help us to achieve this vision.
“Power supply in the Volta Region has improved significantly and introducing these smart meters in the Region will further ensure that our customers are satisfied with our services”, he told newsmen.
“After purchasing the credit, the smart meter at the premises of the customer is remotely recharged before he or she gets to the premises.
“In the event of the meter failing to recharge remotely due to network error, a token is generated for the customer.
“The customer will key in a 20-digit token number on the Customer Interface Unit and the smart meter would recharge”, he explained.
The Communications Officer further indicated that customers with smart prepaid meters who wanted to purchase prepaid credit from their homes could do so by downloading the ECG Power APP on Google Play Store or Appstore or by dialling the USSD shortcode *226# and following the prompts.
Mr. Antwi said customers could access information on their remaining credit, current and purchased credit, date of last purchase, and amount of last purchase.
He urged all customers to read the manual attached to the smart meters, which contained vital information on how to use the meter smoothly.
Mr. Antwi said the benefits of the smart meter included, accessing real-time information on the Customer Interface Unit, and protection against low or high voltage.
He said illegal connections by some customers affected the financial strength of the ECG and prevented the company from undertaking projects to improve customer service.
Mr Antwi warned the smart meter had a feature to detect illegal connections.
“The meter records every activity and we can see it from our office and goes off when tampered with,” he said.
That, notwithstanding, the communications officer called on the public to help the company in its fight against illegal connections by reporting people who engaged in the practice promptly to the ECG.